California Riding Magazine • September, 2008

Ask the Alpha Mare
The Path of Non-Resistance

by Kathryn Kincannon-Irwin

Dear Alpha Mare,

I have a yearling that allows me to halter and loosely lead him pretty well. But he has now discovered the ability to pull away from me, and when he does, finds resistance on the end of the rope and makes a fuss. I try to stay out of his head zone—to only block the head and not pull or push it.

I’ve been told horses are supposed to learn to give to pressure. If the horse is supposed to give to pressure, then that means I have to put pressure on him. But if I’m not supposed to pull on the halter, how does he learn to give to the pressure? Especially when I know he is doing it to himself by pulling away from me? I haven’t figured out how I am supposed to do both.

Hope You Can Help, Stumped in Ohio

Dear Stumped,

Your question involves two fundamentally different approaches to training. One being the pressure-release school of thought and the other, the non-resistance methodology used by me and my husband Chris Irwin. I will share my viewpoint on each and also offer pictures of our young Warmblood filly, Avalon’s, own introduction to contact to give it substance.

First, I’m going to call a spade a spade. Pressure-release tactics focus on subjecting a horse to pressure until it “gives” or submits. Much of it involves pressure to the head and includes everything from waving ropes to restraining movement. Call it sacking out, call it whatever you want. It stresses a horse’s mind and body tremendously, then expects, with repetition, for it to just give in and get over it.

This way of training teaches horses to cope by tuning out rather than resist what feels bad and be punished. Many horses opt to just stand still and take it, and such horses are called good horses. I call them sullen, shut-down horses who have given up.

I often wonder why so many horses can indeed be controlled by such tactics. The answer lies in their being vulnerable by nature. You can cower a prey nature far more often than a predator. However, for horses with self-esteem such an approach can be likened to a lid being placed on a boiling pot. Discomfort, and along with it displeasure, lie just below the surface, and I’ve seen many a “perfectly broke horse” come unglued for what people consider no reason; or they remain aloof in mind and body, never fully engaged—ever holding back. They do what you ask because they have to, not because they want to. Submission is a far cry from willingness.

Work with the Nature of the Horse

When a horse challenges our ability to move it, as every self-respecting horse should, we take whatever it gives us and work with it. We sculpt it into a shape that shifts the resistant mind into a calm and sensible mind. We work with the knowledge that when a horse’s body feels good its mind is open to a request.

Knowing how to shape your horse’s body with your body takes skill and finesse. And practice, lots of practice, as it is not intuitively the way we think and move. But it works like a charm and every horse will agree.

Avalon is bold, intelligent, athletic and highly confident. The daughter of our alpha mare, Katja, she has been the prima-donna princess of our herd since the day she was born. While she has never had a bad moment with a human being, she is far from push-button and definitely no push-over. She would be the first one to tell a “wanna-be” leader that they have no business asking her for anything. If you don’t have the goods, she’d just as soon push you around and blow you off rather than pay attention or give you a bow of respect.

Were we to begin a regimen of training by expecting her to “get with the program” without showing and allowing her to feel good in both body and mind through all we ask of her, we would encounter some seriously royal resistance.

The little handling we and our staff have done with Avalon—introducing the halter, loose leading, picking up her feet, showing her how to bend on both sides and standing quietly for grooming—has all been anticlimactic, without fuss or muss. We are consciously aware of our body positions around her and conscientiously shape her in ways that make her feel good, so she willingly gives us what we want. She has simply seen no need to get “worked up.” If we didn’t have this foundation, we would have no business asking her to plug into the contact of our hand on the lead rope.

A Quick Photo Shot

This series of photos were taken of Avalon being asked to go into contact for the first time with Petra, our assistant, while out with our whole herd in a large paddock—i.e. lots of distractions. She didn’t balk, refuse or resist. Avalon had trust in how Petra handles her. So when Petra stood at her shoulder with a gentle block on the lead rope to keep Avalon’s body balanced and asked her to go forward from the flanks, Avalon did—very relaxed, calm and level-headed.

Petra then kept the contact soft and steady, encouraging Avalon to stay forward by lightly touching her flanks with her dressage whip when Avalon’s outside right leg was forward. This is the “go forward” button on every horse and is located where the stifle meets the barrel. When Avalon could see Petra’s timing and alignment were perfect for her to move well, she stretched into the halter, keeping her head level and curling her tail.

Avalon stands quietly as Petra puts on her halter.

Petra then walked her in-hand all over the large paddock, far away from the other horses. Avalon didn’t so much as give a swish of her tail until Petra lightly pulled on her head from the front. She didn’t like that one bit—balking, throwing her head straight up and pulling right back. When Petra went back to being “correct,” Avalon forgave her and settled back down. It didn’t take hours or days. These pictures were taken in minutes. No practice shots or retakes. All was done in one short session. And it didn’t surprise me in the slightest.
Since Avalon doesn’t have any bad memories of bad handling, she is a clean slate for us to introduce new ideas. As long as we are appropriate, she is willing to say yes. When Petra took her halter off after this session, still in the big paddock, Avalon didn’t run to the other horses, she followed Petra around the paddock like her best friend.

Petra then arcs away from Avalon, loose leading her away from the gate.

So really, the question isn’t how to deal with a horse that resists a block on the head or how to make it give to pressure. It is, what should be we be focusing on? The answer is how to move and shape the horse so he/she has no reason to resist.

Introducing contact to a young horse (especially a head-strong girl like Avalon) can be an exercise in either force, and therefore futility, or finesse and willingness. If you have the know-how for the latter, your horse will see the connection to your hand as friend rather than foe, and ultimately, in their own best interest.

Standing at the shoulder, Petra very lightly touches Avalon’s flank (the “go” button on a horse) with her dressage whip and asks Avalon to step forward.

Much as we hated to do it, I asked Petra to pull Avalon’s front end rather than push her hind end forward. It was a very slight pull, but she immediately braced.